Bell Solves 268-year-old Puzzle Of Pirate Ship

November 1, 1985|By New York Times

CHATHAM, MASS. — Salvagers Thursday morning gingerly chipped a thick coating of corrosion off a bronze bell they hauled out of the sand off Wellfleet last month and exposed the name of a pirate ship whose fate has been the object of debate, search and wonder for 268 years.

The inscription, which marine archeologists said constituted a definite identification of the wreck, said ''THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716,'' with a symbol resembling a Maltese cross between each word.

The ship went down on Feb. 17, 1717, laden with the booty of up to 52 other ships, according to contemporary accounts. In the folklore of Cape Cod, the story includes a witch and a fatal drunken celebration on board.

The historical record itself is intriguing enough, complete with a trial of eight pirates in Boston. Some of the pirates were hanged.

Barry Clifford, the head of the salvage team, said it marked the first time in history that a pirate wreck had been identified and salvaged, a contention supported by two prominent archeologists.

Clifford's company has been retrieving artifacts since last summer.

Thursday morning a specialist chipped from the bell layers of sand and corroded iron, which over the centuries form a concrete-like substance.

When the letters were fully visible, experts concentrated on the spelling. ''Gally'' is a common spelling for that era and refers to the ship's design with a sleek body and uncluttered deck.

But the ''Y'' in the ship's name replaces the ''I'' given in most American written records, according to organizers of the salvage, who wore caps with skull and crossbones and the legend ''Whidah Expedition.''

With the removal of the corrosion, Clifford appears to have established irrefutably the fate of the Whydah, launched by the Royal Africa Company to carry slaves from West Africa, possibly from the port city whose name it bears.

On its maiden voyage, the Whydah was hijacked by Samuel ''Black Sam'' Bellamy shortly after it dropped its human cargo in Jamaica. He sailed it to the coast just off Wellfleet where, according to local legend, Bellamy's lover, Maria Hallett of Easton, who was later denounced as a witch, was waiting.

The ship ran aground because the pirates were drunk on captured wine, the legend goes. History records that nearly all the crew of about 200 drowned, and the ship broke up in the surf while a salvage expert sent by the colonial governor watched helplessly.

Folklore blames Hallett for some of the numerous subsequent shipwrecks along the coast.

''This is the end of one of Cape Cod's oldest mysteries,'' said Clifford. He said that some who have doubted the authenticity of his find simply wanted to keep old legends alive, or perhaps wanted to believe that they, too, could someday find the treasure.

The value of the treasure may run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Under state law, Clifford and his partners would have to pay the state one-quarter of the value if they sell the treasure.

Clifford has been convinced that he had found the Whydah for more than a year, since recovering the first pieces of eight and ''gold dust,'' which was actually gold fragments to be divided among pirates. Clifford lionizes pirates, saying that if he had he lived 300 years ago, he might have joined them.

The ship, entirely beneath the shifting sands of the area immediately offshore, was probably 100 to 110 feet long and about 300 tons, carrying 500 to 700 slaves.

The salvage, most of which is performed by using a ship's propellers to blow away sand, may take years. So far seven cannons, nine sets of navigation equipment, and jewelry, gold and other booty have been raised, all from two 8- by-8-foot pits. The salvage area eventually may cover 100,000 square feet.